INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and
environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a
combination of common-sense practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive
information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the
environment. This information, in combination with available pest control
methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with
the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.
The IPM approach can be applied to both agricultural and
non-agricultural settings, such as the home, garden, and workplace. IPM takes
advantage of all appropriate pest management options including, but not limited
to, the judicious use of pesticides. In contrast, organic food
production applies many of the same concepts as IPM but limits the use of
pesticides to those that are produced from natural sources, as opposed to
synthetic chemicals.
Even
if you do everything right when building a healthy garden, pests inevitably
show up. But managing your garden with a thoughtful, proactive approach helps
prevent pests from doing serious damage. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
combines different types of controls from hands-on pest removal to traditional
synthetic pesticides in a sensible, long-term plan. Designing your own program
around proven IPM principles can help protect your garden and keep it healthy.
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Managing
Garden Pests through IPM
IPM
sees your garden and its pests as part of a larger ecosystem and manages both
with the big picture in mind. By creating an environment that's inhospitable to
pests, you can take away their advantage and give it to your plants.
Under
IPM, a pest is any organism you don't want around. This not only includes
harmful bugs, but also weeds, disease-causing pathogens and uninvited critters.
Effective, integrated pest management includes the following tasks:
- Identify good ,bad
bugs.
- Monitor pest activity regularly.
- Set
thresholds for
tolerable pest damage with limits
- Establish
a plan before
pests cause concern.
- Take
prompt, effective action when needed.
A
solid IPM program wards off pests, but it has minimal impact on the environment
and beneficial garden creatures such as birds, bees and butterflies you want to stick around.
Balancing
Pest Controls in our Garden
Four main categories of pest controls form IPM's foundation:
cultural, biological, mechanical/physical and pesticide controls. The four work
hand in hand to provide targeted, effective, long-term pest management, and
each category plays a special role.
Cultural
Controls
Cultural
pest controls start with the decisions you make when choosing and caring for
plants. Prevention is your first line of defense; healthy, nurtured plants
resist pests and diseases better than weak, unhealthy plants. Cultural controls
in good IPM programs include these simple recommendations:
- Choose
plants suited to your area and its challenges. Arid, drought-prone
regions, for example, call for water-wise plants with low moisture needs.
- Select
disease- and pest-resistant plant varieties. Plants proven to
withstand your region's most common pests hold up better under attack.
- Plant
at appropriate times. In
many regions, fall is prime
planting time.
Fall and winter planting allow roots to establish before summer heat
arrives. This is especially important in southern or western regions. In
far northern climates, spring planting is often best for plants with less
cold hardiness.
- Choose
proper sites. Plants
have more problems and fail to thrive in inappropriate conditions. For
example, sun-loving plants are more vulnerable to pests and other problems
when planted in shady areas, and vice versa.
- Maintain
lawn and garden tools. Sharp
mower blades and proper mowing heights lead to healthier lawns. Sharp,
sterile pruners help prevent the spread of disease.
- Avoid
overhead watering.
Some leaf diseases, such as common garden fungal
diseases or black spot on
roses,
spread with the help of water. Water the soil at the base of plants,
instead of watering leaves.
- Water
in early morning. If
leaves do get wet, they'll dry thoroughly before evening.
- Test
your soil ph.
A simple soil
test reveals
adjustments that can help your soil's structure and nutrients, so you can
feed plants right.
Knowing
what your plants need and providing all they require gives you the upper hand
over pests. Simple, common-sense cultural controls are integral to good IPM.
Biological
Controls
All
pests, from weeds and insects to diseases, have natural enemies. A balanced
pest management program conserves, supports and encourages those foes.
Biological IPM controls include:
- Predator
insects: Adult
lady beetles and their larvae are voracious aphid-eaters. Green lacewing
larvae feed on all kinds of pests, including mealy bugs, whiteflies, mites
and trips. These and other beneficial bugs are probably already in your
garden.
- Parasitic
insects: Parasitic
wasps lay their eggs on and in their living targets. Eggs hatch, and then
feed inside the pest. A mummified aphid with a round hole in its back is
evidence that parasitic wasps have been at work.
- Biological
pathogens: Bacillus
thuringiensis,
also known as BT, is a soil-borne bacterium that fights mosquitoes and
insects in the larval, caterpillar stage. This and other pathogens are
effective biological pesticides for very specific pests.
Knowing
the difference between good and bad bugs is essential for IPM. You can buy
beneficial predators and parasites, but self-managing your garden's free,
natural populations is effective. Keep the good guys plentiful and they'll help
keep bad bugs at bay, reducing the need for other measures.
Mechanical
and Physical Controls
Mechanical
and physical IPM controls go directly after pests to capture or kill them and
prevent them from reaching their destinations. IPM recommends proactive lawn
and garden controls and actions, including:
· Use
mulch in garden areas.
Mulch prevents weeds and weed seeds from getting light and sprouting.
· Hoe
or pull weeds before they establish roots. If weeds escape the hoe, mow or cut
them before they set and drop their seeds.
· Place
collars in the soil around susceptible vegetable stems. Simple barriers prevent hungry
cutworms and other crawling pests from reaching their goal.
·
Stretch
netting over your favorite berry bushes. This stops marauding birds from
settling in and helping themselves to your raspberry and blackberry harvest.
· Stop
destructive rodents with mechanical traps. Easy-to-use products such as AMDRO® Gopher Traps provide control for
troublesome pocket gophers.
·
Hand-pick
pests off plants. This
physical control puts an immediate end to pests' plant-damaging days.
Using
mechanical and physical controls in concert with other IPM methods keeps many
types of pest damage low.
Pesticide Controls
An
effective IPM program includes pesticides for prevention and active treatment.
Pesticides pack necessary and powerful punches, especially when other IPM
controls fall short. Invasive Japanese beetles, for example, devastate gardens and
skeletonize leaves and blossoms. In Japan, the beetle's natural enemies control
it, but its native predators don't exist in the United States. Pesticides help
fill that gap.
IPM-appropriate
pesticides include the following types:
- Traditional
or synthetic pesticides: IPM programs include pesticides manufactured from
synthetic ingredients. These include products such as GardenTech® Sevin® brand
insecticides,
trusted by gardeners for more than 50 years. Sevin® Insect
Killer, available in ready-to-use, ready-to-spray, concentrate and
granular forms and Sevin®-5
Ready-To-Use Dust are effective on ornamental and
edible gardens,
lawns and home perimeters to kill Japanese beetles
and a broad spectrum of other insect pests as part of a successful IPM
program.
- Natural or non-synthetic pesticides: Botanical-based pesticides fall into this IPM group. Based on extracts from different types of plants, these natural insecticides include products such as neem oil, based on extracts from the neem tree, or pyrethrum extracted from special chrysanthemum blossoms. Pesticides in this category may or may not be organic. They also require the same types of safety precautions as synthetic pesticides.
Besides
lowering the impact of chemical substances on the biota in the ecosystem, there
are several other benefits of IPM, such as:
o Slower development of resistance to
pesticides
Pests
can develop a resistance to pesticides over time. When the applications of the
chemicals are used repeatedly, the pests can develop a resistance to the
pesticides via natural selection, where the pests that survive the application
of the chemicals will pass on their genes to their offspring.
o
Maintaining a balanced ecosystem
The
use of pesticides may eradicate the pest population. However, there is a risk
that non-target organisms are also affected, which can result in species loss.
IPM can eradicate pests while maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.
o
Better cost vs. value margin
The reduced usage of pesticides is more cost effective in the long term, as IPM controls pests when there are surges, as opposed to the regularly timed application of pesticides.
Disadvantages of Integrated Pest Management
- More involvement in the technicalities of the method
Individual farmers and all those involved in IPM have to be educated about their options in the various methods available, which often take time.
- Time and energy consuming
Application
of IPM takes time and has to be closely monitored, as the practice of IPM has
many different methods integrated in order to provide the most effective pest
control methods. Different pests have different control methods, and it is
necessary to monitor which methods are the best for specific pests.
However,
the disadvantages are easily offset with the establishment of organizations
that actually provide training and education to IPM practitioners.
In
Malaysia, the Ministry of Agriculture actually provides support and training to
farmers who apply IPM to control the pests in their farms. As the practice
grows, the application of the IPM process can become easier over time.
In
2009 Stiftelsen Lantbruksforskning launched a special call with IPM focus that
ran on an annual basis until 2013, with a total budget of 65.6 MSEK that
financed 52 studies. These calls focused on both R&D studies within the
R&D programs in plant production5 and field trials including method
development. Priority was given to research studies with an expected practical
application within five to ten years and to development studies with a priority
given for plant protection studies that could result in a practical application
in Sweden within three to five years. A major focus was given to major economic
crops, and IPM research in horticultural crops was funded for up to 1
MSEK/year.
In
2009 Stiftelsen Lantbruksforskning launched a special call for ‘Plant Breeding’
in collaboration with Formats amounting to 24 MSEK. A total of six studies were
granted, three of which were financed by Stiftelsen Lantbruksforskning.
Although all of them did not fall within the IPM definition, one study funded
by Stiftelsen Lantbruksforskning focused on breeding for resistance, which is a
major aspect of IPM and is therefore included in this synthesis. This study is
also included in the studies financed through the special IPM call.
CONCLUSION
In summary, the widespread use of
insecticides is ineffective and economically wasteful in the long run.
Many insecticides do in fact accomplish the intended task of controlling pest
populations. However, their detrimental health and environmental effects
make them an inadequate long term solution. In addition, most synthetic
and natural pesticides are susceptible to ineffectiveness due to resistance
buildup in insects. Thus the only viable solution for the future is integrated
pest management. The economic benefits and reduced social costs of these
systems present a logical answer to the pest control problem.
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